imagination to the stern
reality of fact. Two other pyramids, but in this case of stone, still
exist further south, to the left of the village of Lisht: their casing,
torn off by the fellahin, has entirely disappeared, and from a distance
they appear to be merely two mounds which break the desert horizon line,
rather than two buildings raised by the hand of man.

[Illustration: 396.jpg THE PYRAMID OF ILLAHUN, AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE
FAiUM]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Golenischeff.

The sepulchral chambers, excavated at a great depth in the sand, are now
filled with water which has infiltrated through the soil, and they have
not as yet been sufficiently emptied to permit of an entrance being
effected: one of them contained the body of Usirtasen I.; does
Amenemhait I. or Amenemhait II. repose in the other? We know, at all
events, that Usirtasen II. built for himself the pyramid of Illahun,
and Amenemhait III. that of Hawara. "Hotpu," the tomb of Usirtasen II.,
stood upon a rocky hill at a distance of some two thousand feet from
the cultivated lands. To the east of it lay a temple, and close to
the temple a town, Hait-Usirtasen-Hotpu--"the Castle of the Repose of
Usirtasen"--which was inhabited by the workmen employed in building
the pyramid, who resided there with their families. The remains of the
temple consist of scarcely anything more than the enclosing wall, whose
sides were originally faced with fine white limestone covered with
hieroglyphs and sculptured scenes. It adjoined the wall of the town, and
the neighbouring quarters are almost intact: the streets were straight,
and crossed each other at right angles, while the houses on each side
were so regularly built that a single policeman could keep his eye on
each thoroughfare from one end to the other. The structures were of
rough material hastily put together, and among the _debris_ are to be
found portions of older buildings, stehe, and fragments of statues.
The town began to dwindle after the Pharaoh had taken possession of his
sepulchre; it was abandoned during the XIIIth dynasty, and its ruins
were entombed in the sand which the wind heaped over them. The city
which Amenemhait III. had connected with his tomb maintained, on the
contrary, a long existence in the course of the centuries. The king's
last resting-place consisted of a large sarcophagus of quartzose
sandstone, while his favourite consort, Nofriuphtah, reposed beside
him in a